Sundar Pichai swears by Non-Sleep Deep Rest. What’s that?

By Sarah Jackson

Plenty of CEOs swear by meditation, but Google’s chief executive Sunder Pichai likes to relax using a slightly lesser-known practice – NSDR.

Pichai said he sometimes unwinds with the help of non-sleep deep rest, or NSDR, a term coined by Stanford neuroscience professor Andrew Huberman, who says it involves “self-inducing a state of calm” and “directing our focus to something.”

“I found these podcasts which are non-sleep deep rest, or NSDRs. So while I find it difficult to meditate, I can go to YouTube, and find an NSDR video. They’re available in 10, 20, or 30 minutes, so I do that occasionally,” he said.

NSDR can help people relax, fall asleep more easily, reduce stress and anxiety, ease pain, and even accelerate learning. It’s commonly achieved through yoga Nidra and hypnosis.

The former involves lying flat on your back on the ground, typically with your eyes closed, and following guidance from an instructor, virtually or in-person, as they lead you through a number of activities.

In yoga Nidra, you may be asked to scan for places of tension, focus on your breathing, bring your awareness to various parts of the body, or begin diaphragmatic breathing, all with the intention of “giving the mind something to focus on.

As your body begins to rest, doing these things can cause your heart rate to slow down. Your brain may also switch from beta waves, which are associated with an active mind, to alpha waves, which correspond to a more relaxed brain state.

People doing yoga Nidra may find themselves “hovering in a liminal space between being awake and falling asleep.” Their bodies may physically fall asleep, yet they “maintain awareness both internally and simultaneously being aware of their surroundings.”

You’re allowing inertia to let your body rest and be held by whatever it is that you are supported by. That means your body for once can actually release needing to do anything.

Hypnosis is a state of calm and high focus” Hypnosis can be done with the help of a clinical hypnotist, or it can be self-induced using various hypnosis apps or videos.

It’s like looking at something through a telephoto lens. You’re eliminating the surroundings. So it’s a state of high focus, which normally would be associated with a high degree of excitement or stress. But hypnosis is a unique state because you have a high degree of focus, but you’re very relaxed.

(Courtesy: Businessinsider.in)

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